Human Trafficking: Introduction to Human Trafficking

Use this guide to gain knowledge of the issue of human trafficking and access pertinent resources relating to the issue of human trafficking.

Human Trafficking is the trade of persons for some purpose, usually criminal. Persons are trafficked primarily for sexual exploitation, labor, or as organ donors.

Human trafficking is not limited to a particular area or region of the world. Accordingly, this guide divides human trafficking into three categorizations: domestic, foreign, and international.

• Domestic Human Trafficking is trafficking of persons that occurs within the borders of the United States
• Foreign Human Trafficking is human trafficking that takes places within the borders of a country not including the United States
• International Human Trafficking is  trafficking of persons across multiple countries' borders

Here is a link to International, Regional, and Sub-Regional Organizations Combating Trafficking in Persons

In General

• 11 Facts About Human Trafficking
• 56 Little Known Facts About Human Trafficking
• U.S. Department of State--Fact Sheets From the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

Child Trafficking Facts:

• 10 Surprising & Counterintuitive Facts About Child Sex Trafficking
• Child Trafficking FAQs
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services--Fact Sheet: Child Victims of Human Trafficking
   

Sex Trafficking Facts:

• Global Sex Trafficking Fact Sheet
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services--Fact Sheet: Sex Trafficking
• Facts About Sex Trafficking

Labor Trafficking (Forced Labor) Facts:

• Hard Facts About Labor Trafficking
• U.S. Department of State--Forced Labor Facts
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services--Fact Sheet: Labor Trafficking

1. Learn the red flags that may indicate human trafficking and ask follow up questions so that you can help identify a potential trafficking victim. Human trafficking awareness training is available for individuals,businesses, first responders, law enforcement, and federal employees.

2. In the United States, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-3737-888 (24/7) to get help and connect with a service provider in your area, report a tip with information on potential human trafficking activity; or learn more by requesting training, technical assistance, or resources. Call federal law enforcement directly to report suspicious activity and get help from the Department of Homeland Security at 1-866-347-2423 (24/7), or submit a tip online at www.ice.gov/tips, or from the U.S. Department of Justice at 1-888-428-7581 from 9:00am to 5:00pm (EST). Victims, including undocumented individuals, are eligible for services and immigration assistance.

3. Be a conscientious consumer. Discover your Slavery Footprint, and check out the Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. Encourage companies, including your own, to take steps to investigate and eliminate slavery and human trafficking in their supply chains and to publish the information for consumer awareness.

4. Incorporate human trafficking information into your professional associations’ conferences, trainings, manuals, and other materials as relevant.

5. Join or start a grassroots anti-trafficking coalition.

6. Meet with and/or write to your local, state, and federal government representatives to let them know that you care about combating human trafficking in your community, and ask what they are doing to address human trafficking in your area.

7. Distribute public awareness materials available from the Department of Health and Human Services or Department of Homeland Security.

8. Volunteer to do victim outreach or offer your professional services to a local anti-trafficking organization.

9. Donate funds or needed items to an anti-trafficking organization in your area.

10. Organize a fundraiser and donate the proceeds to an anti-trafficking organization.

11. Host an awareness event to watch and discuss a recent human trafficking documentary. On a larger scale, host a human trafficking film festival.

12. Encourage your local schools to partner with students and include the issue of modern day slavery in their curriculum. As a parent, educator, or school administrator, be aware of how traffickers target school-aged children.

13. Set up a Google alert to receive current human trafficking news.

14. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper about human trafficking in your community.

15. Start or sign a human trafficking petition.

16. Businesses: Provide internships, job skills training, and/or jobs to trafficking survivors. Consumers: Purchase items made by trafficking survivors such as from Jewel Girls or Made by Survivors.

17. Students: Take action on your campus. Join or establish a university or secondary school club to raise awareness about human trafficking and initiate action throughout your local community. Consider doing one of your research papers on a topic concerning human trafficking. Professors: Request that human trafficking be an issue included in university curriculum. Increase scholarship about human trafficking by publishing an article, teaching a class, or hosting a symposium.

18. Law Enforcement Officials: Join or start a local human trafficking task force.

19. Mental Health or Medical Providers: Extend low-cost or free services to human trafficking victims assisted by nearby anti-trafficking organizations. Train your staff on how to identify the indicators of human trafficking and assist victims.

20. Attorneys: Look for signs of human trafficking among your clients. Offer pro-bono services to trafficking victims or anti-trafficking organizations. Learn about and offer to human trafficking victims the legal benefits for which they are eligible. Assist anti-trafficking NGOs with capacity building and legal work

 U.S. Department of State: Office to Montior and Combat Trafficking in Persons